NRL 2023: New Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson outlines plan to turn club into a premiership force

Shane Richardson has seen - and conquered - many challenges during his time in rugby league. But there’s one word he doesn’t want uttered at Wests Tigers under his leadership.

Shane Richardson has joined the Tigers. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Interim chief executive Shane Richardson has kicked off his tenure at the helm of the embattled Wests Tigers by hitting out at suggestions the club is a lost cause, vowing to back coach Benji Marshall in his pursuit of Jarome Luai and opening the door for disgruntled chair Lee Hagipantelis to extend his sponsorship of the club.

Richardson isn’t due to officially begin his role until early in the new year but he fronted a press conference on Wednesday as Tigers fans continue to digest the biggest shake-up in club history.

One of the key changes was the departure of chief executive Justin Pascoe, replaced by Richardson for an initial six months, although he won’t rule out staying beyond that.

Hagipantelis, who is also the club’s major sponsor through his company Brydens Lawyers, was also replaced on an interim basis by former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell.

Richardson, who was the architect of premiership wins while chief executive at Penrith and South Sydney, insisted the club wasn’t broken and vowed to replicate his previous success.

“There’s no such thing as a lost cause in rugby league,” Richardson said.

“You can’t let the media blow you off the track, you can’t let the politics blow you off the track, you can’t let a loss on the weekend blow you off the track. If you stick together, you come out the other end.”

Shane Richardson has jumped into the hot seat as the interim Wests Tigers CEO. Picture: Getty

Pressed on whether the Tigers needed a rebuild, Richardson bristled.

“This is not a rebuild – I hate that word rebuild,” he said.

“This is a build again. Who knows how good our young players are. Nobody knows what they can achieve. We as a club just can’t put any restriction on them going forward.

“You can never put restrictions on what you’re going to do. It took two years with Penrith and 10 years with Souths … both those clubs went on to win premierships.”

Player talks

The Tigers are locked in talks with the two biggest players on the open market – Penrith superstar Luai and Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake.

Marshall has personally overseen negotiations with both players and the club has tabled multimillion-dollar bids in their quest to supercharge their roster overhaul.
Richardson has been a long-time admirer of Luai, having chased the Penrith prodigy when he was a teenager. He reiterated his admiration for Luai on Wednesday as he vowed to work with Marshall and recruitment boss Scott Fulton to put together a roster capable of lifting the side off the foot of the ladder.

“I’ll meet with Benji over the next day or so and discuss what the situation is there,” Richardson said.

Wests Tigers media conference with new interim chief executive Shane Richardson. Picture: David Swift

“Obviously I’ll have to step in to be part of those negotiations. I’ve made my feelings on Luai well known for long time. In my opinion, he was the best young half coming through.

“Not only that, he’s a great team leader. That Penrith side revolves around Luai. He is a great person off the field despite what many media people like to make out. You couldn’t meet a better person than him.
“You couldn’t ask for a better person in the club. Fonua-Blake is obviously one of the top three front rowers in the game.

“At the end of the day, I’m not across it yet. All I want to do is assist Benji to get put together the best roster possible. Obviously I’ll be reviewing that with Benji.”

The relationship between Marshall and Fulton has been fraught at times with suggestions they haven’t always been on the same page. Richardson knew Fulton’s father Bob and said his priority was to strengthen the club and the relationships within it.

“I’ve never met Scott Fulton, never even spoken to him,” Richardson said.

“It’s ridiculous for me to comment on that until I get inside the tent and speak to Benji and Scott and everybody else.

“It’s unfair to single out Scott Fulton or anybody else in this arrangement. It’s about building a club that’s internally strong and works together, and that’s my task over the next six months.”

Benji Marshall has received full backing from Shane Richardson in his rookie season as coach. Picture: NRL Photos

Mending fences

The Tigers have been a club at war this week. Former chair Hagipantelis ripped into the club and key officials on Tuesday night after the board was dissolved, ending his stint as chair.

Hagipantelis also happens to be the principal of Brydens Lawyers, the club’s major sponsor. Their deal has 12 months to run and Hagipantelis conceded he would need to review the situation given recent events.

Richardson hopes to break bread with Hagipantelis and would be open to extending their partnership.

“First of all, I’m not about worrying about what’s happened in the past,” Richardson said.

“If we do that, we’re gonna waste a lot of time. As far as Brydens Lawyers go, they’ve been a magnificent sponsor of the club.

“They’re a sponsor again for next year …. and the reality is we’d like (them) to stay on long term. That’s always a decision for their board to make going forward.

“But I’ve only spoken to Lee on the phone once, I don’t know Lee at all, but I’m sure I’ll be trying to make some contact with him over the next few months.

“It was a traumatic day for everybody yesterday.”

Hagipantelis was a key ally of Pascoe, who also departed as part of the Tigers’ revolution. Pascoe spent nearly 10 years at the helm of the club, a period marked by little success on the field but several wins off it, most notably the Centre of Excellence.

Asked whether he had reached out to Pascoe, Richardson said: “It’s a bit raw for Justin – very raw and I understand that.

“He’s put a lot of his heart and soul in the club. We’re standing on a lot of his work. So but I will but it’s always a bit raw when you’re talking about things that happened yesterday.”

The Wests Tigers are deep in negotiations to bring across Penrith star Jarome Luai.

Helping Benji

Marshall is the man in the hot seat as the Tigers coach and only a matter of weeks into his tenure, he finds himself dealing with a new coach and a new chair.

Marshall had a strong relationship with Hagipantelis and Pascoe, praising both in a recent interview with this masthead. However, he is also smart enough to know that change isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

With player negotiations in full swing, he needs to quickly strike up a strong relationship with Richardson.

“I don’t know Benji hardly at all,” Richardson said.

“Obviously he was at Souths under Wayne (Bennett’s) regime, but I wasn’t there long enough after that. But everybody who I respect – Wayne Bennett, the (people) at Souths that dealt with him like Blake Solly and Mark Ellison – everybody says he’s a great human.

“He is enthusiastic, he wants to win, he wants to be a successful coach. My job is to put everything around him to allow him to be successful, because he’s the head coach, he’s the guy that’s got to front up every Sunday.

“My role is to support him in any way I can. And I think I’ve got a track record of supporting coaches in their roles and choosing the right sort of coaches going forward.

“Benji has nothing but my support.”

The first test of that support may be the future of winger David Nofoaluma, who has two years remaining on a big money contract but finds himself on the outer with Marshall and the club.

Nofoaluma has got the players union involved but he appears to have no place under the current regime.

“I haven’t met David, I don’t know him from a bar of soap,” Richardson said.

“I don’t want to pre-empt what is going on. All I know is the way I work is very simple – firm, fair and polite. And that is the way I will treat David Nofoaluma.”

Benji Marshall has earned high praise from figures around the game. Picture: Getty

Winning

The Tigers have been stuck in quicksand for more than a decade, their last finals appearance a distant memory. The club has churned through coaches and overpaid players in their chase for success, only to leave their fans heartbroken.

The hope is that events of this week can finally turn things around and usher in a new era for the club. Richardson is a winner and O’Farrell is as connected as any official in the game when it comes to the top end of town.

The club will piece together a new board over the next six months with directors more equipped to handle the modern rigours of rugby league. Tigers fans crave success.

“You think they were more desperate than Souths?” Richardson said.

“You think they were more desperate than Cronulla fans? You don’t win premierships without stability. I mean, this just doesn’t happen without stability and you may have to change your things along the way, but the reality is you’ve got to have stability in the club.

“Stability in coaching staff, stability in the players and stability in your board. I’ve done it before. People say to me this is tough, that was tough.

“Well, I don’t think there are too many challenges in my life I haven’t dealt with. It’s how you handle it, how you deal with it and your knowledge in the way to manage things.

“I have a track work record for staff, players and coaching, bringing them through. In a lot of ways, what’s happened previously to me is set up with the situation.

“I’ve never been at a club yet that wasn’t on the bottom of the ladder when I started. So we’ve managed to make a couple of finals, win a couple of premierships. So hopefully we’re going to try and set things up strategically to work towards that goal.”

Originally published as NRL 2023: New Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson outlines plan to turn club into a premiership force